WASHINGTON — Shakira Austin has been doing her best impression of the WNBA’s best guards.
Smooth handles out on the perimeter, drives to the basket (which have been part of her game for a while) and efficient shooting from 3 that still hasn’t faded 26 attempts in.
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She is proving that she has all the tools to be a superstar, given that she already had the rebounding, defense and inside scoring as a 6-foot-5 center.
The timing of her latest exploits Sunday afternoon at CareFirst Arena held significant meaning, as it was her first time taking the court since the 2026 All-Star rosters were finalized—without her on the list.
Austin went for 27 points (three off her career-high) to pace her Washington Mystics, who went on a 16-4 run in the fourth quarter, to go from down six points to up six, and held on for an 84-79 victory over a weak Seattle Storm team that they really needed to beat.
The Mystics’ now-two-time-reigning sophomore All-Stars, Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen, together affectionately known as “Kitron,” have overshadowed Austin. Many thought Washington wouldn’t try to hold on to Austin this year with Iriafen and presumed (and eventual) No. 4 draft pick Lauren Betts crowding the frontcourt.
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But Austin is from Fredericksburg, VA, about an hour away from DC, and went to high school in Upper Marlboro, MD, about half an hour away. DC has been her only home as a WNBA player. In her fifth year, she is by far the longest-tenured Mystic, and her loyalty to the team and passion for representing the area are showing up in her play on the court this year, leaving me wanting to remind everyone that, “Hey, this is Shakira’s team too!”
Here’s what Mystics head coach Sydney Johnson said about Austin missing out on the All-Star Game:
I’m thrilled that Sonia and Kiki were voted All-Stars, I love it. We think we have another one in Shakira. We really do. Her growth as a player … it’s amazing. There’s growth not only skill set-wise and stuff that we’re doing in the gym, but also just her maturity and being able to have a slower start and to keep playing and to level-set. Those are all parts of growing as a player.
We all know that Shakira is DC through and through. And the growth that she’s had, well before I got here, to last season and this season, I don’t know what to tell you. And when you go out there and we play these games, she’s about as good as any of them that come through, and there’s some really good ones in this league, we know that. … Big Red is playing ball, we’re really happy that she’s here.
Even against a young Storm team, this was a significant win for the Mystics
Although the Storm have a 6-19 record, they have some of the top young talent in the league, as well as a star vet who is having the best season of her career in Natisha Hiedeman. Seattle looked pretty good for much of Sunday and were certainly effective in shutting down the Mystics’ comebacks for most of the contest.
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It was a back-and-forth game, with Seattle responding to every run from Washington.
The Mystics went on a 6-1 run to cut the Storm’s lead to four points 23 seconds into the second quarter, but Seattle soon went back ahead by seven points. Washington later took a three-point advantage at the 4:26 mark of the frame, but only held the lead for 45 seconds before the Storm went back ahead by five at halftime. The Mystics opened the third on a 7-0 run that gave them a two-point edge, but only held the lead for 17 seconds this time, and then the Storm went ahead by nine points. Washington would cut it to two at the 1:48 mark of the third, but Seattle went back ahead by seven.
Finally, a key hustle play by Michaela Onyenwere right at the end of the third sparked the Mystics and helped them hold onto momentum.
Georgia Amoore missed a 3-point attempt and Onyenwere made an incredible effort to just barely save the ball from going out of bounds. She tossed it to Lauren Betts, who was waiting in the paint. Betts made the layup, was fouled and converted the 3-point play to cut Washington’s deficit to four entering the fourth.
The Storm would briefly go back up by six points with the first bucket of the final fourth, but the Mystics were able to salvage the positive energy from Onyenwere’s effort by then going on the 16-4 run to lead 80-74 with 4:07 to go.
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Austin started the run with three points the hard way. She then made a nice pass to Betts, who hit a short jumper from the right baseline, cutting it to one. At 6:24, a defensive miscommunication by Seattle led to a wide open Amoore layup and 73-72 Washington lead.
Austin would bury a triple from the left wing to make it a two-point advantage at 5:50. She then stole a bad pass from Dominique Malonga at 5:26 and delivered a layup on the ensuing possession to increase the lead to four. Another Amoore layup capped the run.
Austin finished with 10 points in the fourth, with the other two coming when she made a layup straight through Jade Melbourne. She was completely unfazed by the contact and was massively pumped up afterward, as the Mystics took an 82-76 lead with 58 ticks left.
The Mystics’ comeback win confirms that CareFirst Arena has special energy
It was a great comeback by the Mystics, now 11-10 and sitting 1.5 games up in the race for the eighth and final playoff spot. They improved to 5-5 at home, with all of the losses, save for one by 13 points without Citron, coming by five points or less, including against good teams in the Minnesota Lynx, Indiana Fever and New York Liberty.
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The DC faithful, and the team, have proven there’s something special about the energy inside CareFirst, even if the record in that building is only .500.
Austin said she isn’t paying attention to the record at home compared to the record on the road, but offered the following:
I would just say, I think as the season’s gone on, we’ve just gotten better, more mature at finishing games. I mean, we started off with like the most clutch minutes as the youngest team. So just being able to learn through those mistakes, learn through the games, wins and losses. And Seattle was one of the most disappointing losses we probably had. Just knowing that we can compete better against them.
So coming in and having that mindset and being really intentional with the scout and just protecting the home court was just very important.
Kiki Iriafen absolutely owned the glass in the second quarter
Iriafen and Austin have been a two-headed monster on the glass this season.
Iriafen is fourth in the league with 9.4 rebounds per game, while Austin is seventh with 9.1. They are the only two teammates to both be in the top 10. Entering Sunday, they had each hauled in nine or more boards in each of Washington’s previous five games. Over that stretch, Austin averaged 12.2 boards and Iriafen pulled down 11 per game.
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Austin managed just five rebounds on Sunday, but Iriafen was stellar with 13. She recorded seven in the second frame alone, along with seven of her 12 points. Four of the boards were offensive; all of those came in under 90 seconds.
Iriafen rebounded an Austin missed free throw at the 6:32 mark of the quarter and put it right back up to cut it to 29-28. She then turned her second o-board of the period into a 3-point play off a TOUGH reverse layup in traffic. Her third and fourth came at 5:08 and 5:06, respectively. Albeit, the latter was off her own miss, but it led to an Austin free throw-line jumper that tied the game at 33.
